Feb. 12 Deadline — GWA Member Directory Advertisement ReservationGWAAllied Trade members of GWA have access to this key group of professionals who have a significant impact on gardening product sales and markets. A free ad in the Annual Membership Directory is included in each Allied Trade membership. Non-member companies offering gardening products or services may also advertise in the Annual Membership Directory for a fee.

Feb. 15 Deadline — GWA Media Awards 'Early Bird' RateGWASubmit works first published and copyrighted between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013. The official copyright date will be the eligibility determinant. You do not need to be a GWA member to enter. Any writer, editor, publisher, producer, etc., may enter. Entries must be submitted by March 15.

Feb. 15 'Early Bird' Deadline — GWA Meeting at Portland YGP ShowGWAReinventing Yourself: Thriving in a Climate of Change — Join a panel of experts who will share their insights into the new world of writing, editing and photography on Friday, Feb. 28, at the Yard, Garden & Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore.

Feb. 28 'Early Bird' Deadline — Chicago Flower & Garden Show!GWAThe roots of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show can be traced as far back as 1847! The Show, held each March at Chicago's Navy Pier (March 15-23), is an experience for the senses, invoking memories of spring after a typically long and cold Chicago winter. Join Region III in Chicago for networking, presentations, breakfast and lunch and early access to the show!

March 1 Deadline — GWA Meeting at Canada Blooms in TorontoGWAIt's time for Region VII's annual winter meeting! This year they have more Business of Garden Writing sessions — helping you make your garden writing a paying habit. The registration deadline is March 1 ... but this meeting always fills up quickly, so don't delay.

Pittsburgh Hotel Block Now Open for the 2014 GWA SymposiumGWAThe Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh immerses you in the heart of the city, making travel convenient for guests. The Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh is the only Pittsburgh hotel directly connected to the David L. Lawrence Pittsburgh Convention Center by skywalk. A special block of rooms has been set aside for GWA meeting participants. The deadline for discounted room rates and guaranteed space availability is July 16.

How to Use LinkedIn Jobs to Find Great Team MembersSpinWebLinkedIn is one of the fastest-growing online professional networks. It has more than 225 million professionals and grows at a rate of two new users per second. As such, it's a natural place for job seekers to put themselves out there, to see and be seen. And in a day and age where it can be flat out difficult to find good help, it also happens to be a fabulous place to find great team members.

Facebook's 'Paper' App: What You Should KnowMediabistroBy Angela Washeck: Tuesday was Facebook's 10th birthday (feel old yet?), so it's only fitting that the Mark Zuckerberg-led team launched a pretty bold (and, in my opinion), beautiful reincarnation of itself. Universe, meet Paper, the app that's meant to combine your traditional Facebook feed, complete with your friends' photo albums, statuses and check-ins, with news stories from a host of respected, national publications in one experience.

Lawyer Wants Apple to Cough Up $840 Million in E-Books CaseRe/codeApple lost its e-book antitrust trial last summer, but so far it hasn't had to write any checks as part of its punishment. Now a plaintiff's lawyer wants to deliver a bill: He says Apple should pay $840 million in damages. Steve Berman, an attorney representing consumers and 33 states who linked up with the U.S. government's case against Apple, says Apple's actions caused e-book buyers to spend an extra $280,254,374 after the introduction of Apple's iPad and its iBooks Store.

E-book Company Kobo Replaces its CEOGigaOMCanadian e-book company Kobo, which was acquired by Japanese retail giant Rakuten in 2011, is replacing its founder and CEO Michael Serbinis with a Japanese executive, the company announced. Takahito "Taka" Aiki, who was the CEO of Rakuten's telecom company Fusion Communications, steps into the new role effective immediately, while Serbinis remains involved with the company as vice chairman.

6 Great Blogs for Indie AuthorsPublishers WeeklyAll blogs are not created equal — especially when it comes to those about self-publishing. Many are written by authors who are primarily interested in selling their books, others by "experts" who want to sell their services, and then there are those that are so chock full of entertaining stories and down-to-earth, practical advice that you can't afford to miss them, even if they also might happen to suggest you purchase their books or services.

Amazon's Latest Page-Turner: Book PublishingThe Seattle TimesFor more than a decade, Hugh Howey wrestled with writing about the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001. Before Howey became the best-selling author of "Wool," he worked as a boat captain aboard a ship docked in the shadows of the World Trade Center towers as two planes flew into them. Even as he began to make a living as an author, the idea of writing about the tragedy vexed him. And then Amazon.com opened a creative door for him.

Can You Make Kids Love Books?SalonCultural critic Natasha Vargas-Cooper recently provoked the indignation of many readers by arguing that it was a bad idea to assign novels to high school students. "Just maybe," she wrote, "the novel is not the best device for transmitting ideas, grand themes, to hormonal, boisterous, easily distracted, immature teenagers." Nonfiction strikes her as a better form "to spark a love of reading, engage a young mind and maybe even teach them how to write in a coherent manner."

Where to Put the Entrepreneur in Publishing?FutureBookBy Tom Chalmers: It's a word I had never heard of before starting out in business — four syllables that I have apparently become rather than something I aimed for. However, these four syllables are now everywhere — in the press, on TV (see Dragon's Den, The Apprentice, etc. etc.), in books (see autobiographies from those on aforementioned TV shows etc. etc.), and Twitter appears awash with entrepreneurial advice.

Piracy, Savior of the Book IndustryForbesPiracy is portrayed as many things by many people. For the content industries, it's portrayed as theft, despite that being legally inaccurate. For a subset of the free culture movement, piracy is just an expression of the adage that "information wants to be free." For many, it's a moral outrage. For some, it's the only practical way they can access content, either because the item is not available any other way, or it costs far more than they can afford.